Overview

How the Internet lost its way and how to fix it Recovering the Internet is an indictment of how Big Tech cloaks ruthless commercial exploitation in the language of free speech. Olivier Sylvain, a leading legal scholar and former senior advisor at the Federal Trade Commission, exposes the incentives behind social media design, revealing how they trap users in cycles of addiction, misinformation, and harm from fatal TikTok challenges to AI chatbot codependency. With clarity and urgency, Sylvain dismantles the libertarian mythology that shaped internet law and calls for a new legal regime that protects users over platforms. Recovering the Internet is a powerful, original intervention into the most urgent policy debate of our time what it will take to reclaim the digital public sphere.

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9781967190126

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Reviews

“The noble principle of free speech has been twisted and transformed into a broad license for corporate misbehavior. Olivier Sylvain, who has spent time in the front lines of this battle, gives us a gripping account of the stakes, what needs to be done, and how we can recover our sovereignty over clear and present harms.” —Tim Wu, Columbia University, author of The Age of Extraction “Sylvain meticulously exposes how a handful of corporations hide ruthless systems of surveillance, addiction, and commercial exploitation behind legal and cultural myths around neutrality and free expression.” —Zephyr Teachout, professor, Fordham Law School and author of Break ’Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom From Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money “Olivier Sylvain shows us clearly what we have allowed the Internet to become: a haunted house version of a shopping mall full of dangerous products, scams, frauds, and abuse. We would do well to heed Sylvain’s carefully crafted plan to clean up this mess by incentivizing Big Tech to do better while keeping our free speech rights intact.” —Julia Angwin, New York Times contributing opinion writer “Expertly mapping the Internet’s past and present, Sylvain envisions a far better future for online life in this refreshing call for reform. Reclaiming the Internet is also a must-read for those interested in AI law and policy, offering vital insights on what works in technology regulation.” —Frank Pasquale, professor, Cornell Law School and author of The Black Box Society

“Sylvain meticulously exposes how a handful of corporations hide ruthless systems of surveillance, addiction, and commercial exploitation behind legal and cultural myths around neutrality and free expression.” —Zephyr Teachout, professor, Fordham Law School, author of Break ’Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom From Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money “Olivier Sylvain shows us clearly what we have allowed the Internet to become: a haunted house version of a shopping mall full of dangerous products, scams, frauds, and abuse. We would do well to heed Sylvain’s carefully crafted plan to clean up this mess by incentivizing Big Tech to do better while keeping our free speech rights intact.” —Julia Angwin, New York Times contributing opinion writer

“Sylvain meticulously exposes how a handful of corporations hide ruthless systems of surveillance, addiction, and commercial exploitation behind legal and cultural myths around neutrality and free expression.” —Zephyr Teachout, professor, Fordham Law School, author of Break ’Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom From Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money

Author Information

Olivier Sylvain is a professor of law at Fordham University, a former senior advisor at the Federal Trade Commission, and a Senior Policy Research Fellow at Columbia University's Knight First Amendment Institute. An expert in communications, administrative, and internet law, his work focuses on platform accountability, consumer protection, and the intersection of technology, speech, and democracy. He lives in New York City.

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